


oh, brother i will hear you call

by Aelig



Series: 12 Days of Winter Whumperland [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Red Robin (Comics), Robin: Son of Batman (Comics)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Angst, College Student Stephanie Brown, Cuddles, Damian Wayne is Bad at Feelings, Damian Wayne is Robin, Damian and Tim are brothers and I will die on this hill, Earth-197, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Needles, Nothing too graphic but it's still here, Protective Damian Wayne, Protective Tim Drake, Restraints, Sharing a Bed, Sleep Deprivation, Stephanie Brown is Batgirl, Stephanie and Damian share one (1) braincell and they use it to make fun of Tim, Tim Drake is Red Robin, Torture, but he has feelings anyway, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:47:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29345358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aelig/pseuds/Aelig
Summary: "Damian couldn't sleep. He couldn't allow himself to – not when his brother was out there, captured, probably tortured and suffering, and it was his fault.Robin was supposed to work with Red Robin on this case – it wasn't anything too complex, actually, and he and Timothy may have... bitched – as Stephanie would have said – about it together. Something about Bruce taking them for novices and not trusting them enough for more dangerous cases. It didn't take them long to finish what they had been assigned to do, and they had played rooftop tag while looking out for trouble afterwards.Like always, trouble had found them without problem."OR: Red Robin had been captured during patrol, and Damian refuses to sleep until he finds his brother. Sleep-deprived Damian also doesn't have the best plans.
Relationships: Stephanie Brown & Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown & Tim Drake & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Damian Wayne
Series: 12 Days of Winter Whumperland [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2155518
Comments: 6
Kudos: 120
Collections: Gotham Square (Batfam Discord Fics)





	oh, brother i will hear you call

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DawnsEternalLight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawnsEternalLight/gifts).



> Hey everyone!! I hope you're all okay!!
> 
> SO I KNOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE OUT BEFORE CHRISTMAS BUT LISTEN,,,, it's called Winter Whumperland, we're still in Winter, it works. 
> 
> Lovely DawnsEternalLight asked for the prompt Exhaustion/Sleep Deprivation with Damian, and I provided :heart: I hope you'll like it!! A lot of sweet brotherly bonding here :D
> 
> Title come from Her Brother by Avicii!
> 
> Thanks to [Dottie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dottie_wan_kenobi/pseuds/dottie_wan_kenobi) for being my beta with this one!! You're amazing :heart:

Damian couldn't sleep. He couldn't allow himself to – not when his brother was out there, captured, probably tortured and suffering, and it was _his_ _fault_.

Robin was supposed to work with Red Robin on this case – it wasn't anything too complex, actually, and he and Timothy may have... _bitched_ – as Stephanie would have said – about it together. Something about Bruce taking them for novices and not trusting them enough for more dangerous cases. It didn't take them long to finish what they had been assigned to do, and they had played rooftop tag while looking out for trouble afterwards.

Like always, trouble had found them without problem.

They had been attacked after stopping a poor robbery attempt. Damian realized now that it had been a trap, of course – but as they dropped in and in the spur of the moment, they hadn't noticed it.

They had been outnumbered fast after that, and no matter how hard they had fought, they hadn't been able to keep up for long. Their comms had been jacked, they hadn't been able to call for help, and then...

And then, Timothy had sacrificed himself so Damian could fly away.

And Damian – he hated that. Hated that, somehow, his family thought it was fair game to sacrifice themselves for him. It _wasn't_. They _shouldn't_.

No matter how hypocritical of him it was, considering he would do the same in a heartbeat.

But because he was the youngest – the baby, like some of them kept saying – they always called in the _big sibling privilege_.

Damian still wasn't sure it existed.

Timothy was being held prisoner somewhere, and Damian couldn't sleep.

Gotham had never seemed this huge before.

He had to find his brother – had to save him. He couldn't... he couldn't leave him like that. No matter if it was out of guilt or out of love, Timothy was too important for Damian to leave him behind.

They were _family_ , and Damian hadn't spent months and years learning about the meaning of family to lose them stupidly like that, to not go and fight for them.

Father had sent him to bed hours ago, saying he'd take care of it. Damian, in all his pettiness, had stolen Timothy's laptop – the one connected to the Batcave – and was working on it since then. He had found nothing, and dawn was already breaking through his curtains.

It wasn't _fair_. Damian should be the one captive, not Timothy. Timothy would have already found him and saved him by now, and Damian was still stuck at square one, trying to understand who set up the trap in the first place and why.

* * *

When they first met each other – well, Damian and Timothy's relationship had always been... complicated.

(Damian had never meant to kill Timothy or to even make an attempt at his life. It was... It had been an accident, but he hadn't known how to apologize, and by now it was too late.)

But both of them had made efforts, again and again – and now, they had a peaceful relationship. Or, as peaceful as a relationship could be in this family – which meant not a lot but still better than Cassandra and Jason. Or, really, Cassandra and Jason when they were butting heads with each other, because somehow they were always agreeing when it came to their siblings. Especially the younger ones.

Anyway.

Damian and Timothy had a long history, and it had been difficult for them to finally stand on an equal ground and _understand_ each other. But they were here, now, and Damian – Damian could acknowledge that he loved Timothy, just like he loved his other siblings.

He was thirteen, now, and had been free from the League and his grandfather for four years. He didn't feel bad or weak for that anymore, thanks to the relentless work of Richard and Stephanie – and of his mother, to a certain extent. And even if Damian was now entering the dreaded teenager phase, he drew his pride from the love he had in his family and the love they had for him in return. He wasn't about to snap and act ungrateful for something he had longed all his life for without knowing it.

Damian could admit it to himself, now, how jealous he had felt toward Timothy at the beginning. It wasn't fair, because Timothy had been nothing but welcoming to him, but Damian hadn't understood how love isn't conditional, how love is limitless. And that boy had been smart, and loved, and a good fighter. He was the _youngest_ , and it should have been _Damian's_ _place_.

Funny how it was something Damian was always complaining about to his siblings, now.

But at the time – at the time, Timothy had been the son, the one he had to surpass, the one he had to be better than. Jason was living as Red Hood and avoiding everyone; Dick was living on his own and spending more time with the Teen Titans; Cassandra was unreachable and too wild of an element, plus a _daughter_. Stephanie wasn't even an obstacle in his mind at the time, which was really stupid of him now that he knew both her and his father better.

He wanted to be the only one that mattered. He thought it was the only way he could be loved truly, entirely.

He had been wrong, of course. He had been wrong, and grew to be regretful of his past actions and words.

(But Damian was in the right family to understand trauma and PTSD, and none of them were really mad at him for that. He wasn't even sure they had ever been mad at him, actually.)

And when they had started to finally talk to each other, and learn each other, and truly like each other – Damian had realized he had more common points with Timothy than he had thought. Not always the best – but more than enough.

He wasn't sure what the moment was where he looked at Timothy and thought, _yes, this is my brother_ , but he knew he had been at that point for years now. He was there, right now, and the idea of losing his brother – he didn't want that to happen.

(Their family had already lost too much.)

* * *

The night of research turned into a day, then yet another night. Damian saw no end to this – he was burning every bridge, every trail he had, and nothing was coming out of it. Nearly nothing – he had some beginning of a plan, a list of possible masterminds behind all of this.

Damian still hadn't slept.

His family was still looking out for Timothy, of course, each of them taking turns behind the computer and on patrol. They were enough to still be able to patrol normally for some of them, but it was still a dire situation – no one got anyne lead or hint, and Robin was still benched and supposed to rest and carry on his days normally. Things that Damian refused to do, because he wasn't a kid anymore, and he _wanted_ to help. He _could_ help. No matter that he hadn't slept in – a few hours.

And Damian – Damian wasn't used to pulling sleepless nights like that. His family had made sure of it – they were always on his back, making sure he had a correct amount of sleep every night no matter what, stating it was important for a growing boy like him. And Damian never had protested it before – he had never seen a point in it, knowing they couldn't be swayed.

A new day was starting, now. He could see dawn settling in through the windows, and he was still on Timothy's laptop, the result of his research in front of him, a half-formed plan in mind.

It was probably stupid, and he knew his family was doing everything to get Timothy back, but-

But Damian had to _act_.

* * *

With hindsight, Damian would probably say that the whole thing was the result of his two nights without sleeping in a row. He had a dull headache, his movements wobbly and his vision fuzzy, and so when Robin arrived where Red Robin had been captured, he wasn't at his best.

At all.

Like he vaguely expected it, the thugs who attacked them came back for him.

And Robin fought, hard, fast, with everything he had – but he couldn't keep up, like he hadn't be able to with Red Robin by his side, and he shouldn't have been alone but it was easier this way, his family wouldn't understand, he simply snuck out of the Cave and no one noticed, and he fought but went down and when the punch hit his head-

-Damian welcomed the darkness with relief.

* * *

Someone was running their hand through his hair. Damian could feel it, a gentle and familiar pattern he associated with only one person. Soft murmurs were poured into his ears.

A body – arms and hands and chest – was holding him.

Suddenly, the movement stopped. Damian's breath followed, short, scared, and-

A kiss was pressed on his forehead, and a low voice came after. “I know you're awake, Robin. It's me.”

 _Timothy_ , wanted to yell Damian. _My brother_ , cried his heart. Instead, he shuddered a new breath and said, “Red Robin,” his arms encircling his older brother and his face buried between his chest and neck. There was a heartbeat, slow, steady, strong – _alive_.

Timothy was alive, and was hugging him back, twice as fierce.

Damian refused to let go of him for a long time, no matter his reputation or whatever the others would say. To be fair, his brother showed no sign of letting him go either; and so they stayed pressed against each other as the minutes ran out.

Timothy gave a final kiss into Damian's hair before slowly detaching himself from him – Damian didn't protest. Instead, he raised his head, and for the first time in three days, took a good look at the older vigilante.

Red Robin looked _awful_.

His cape was mostly holding up, but it was a different story for the rest of his uniform. There were blood stains _everywhere_ , on him and on the floor and on the walls around them. He had numerous wounds, hastily bandaged with ripped parts of his costume, and his leg was bended in an awkward way. For some reason, his hair was wet, too.

It had been three days, and _anything_ could have happened – and _anything_ didn't look good.

“What has happened?” asked Damian, eyes wide – thankfully, he could feel his mask on his face, still firmly in place.

Timothy sighed. “Not a lot. We got caught into some sort of gang wars. They think we have important information on their enemies and holding us would give them an advantage.”

Damian scrunched his nose. “That's stupid of them.”

Red Robin hummed. “Where's the others?”

Damian stilled. Because he actually had no idea. He... couldn't remember how he arrived here, actually. What happened?

He could vaguely recall working on Timothy's laptop, finding a lead, and being called away for dinner – didn't he go on patrol after that?

While he tried to get the memories back to him, he looked around them. They were in what was obviously a cell, walls bare and cement floor. It wasn't very large, with a toilet in a corner and a blanket carefully folded underneath them.

Damian sighed, still hating to admit some sort of defeat or weakness. “I... am not sure.”

The more he tried to remember – which aggravated a persistent headache that he hadn't noticed before – the more things became fuzzy and incomprehensible.

“... Don't tell me you came alone.” His brother's voice was so tired, and he said that like he would say _I can't fucking believe you pulled this bullshit with me_. (Damian would know. Timothy had said that not even one week ago to Stephanie.)

Robin's cheeks darkened under his embarrassment. “I don't need them to get us out of here!”

Just to prove his point, he immediately stood up – and the world became dark and everything was moving and shaking under him-

“Robin!”

He was grabbed and pulled on a lap, a hand supporting his head and the other holding him down.

“Uh,” said Damian very intelligently.

“I think you have a concussion,” helpfully noted his brother – a little too late to spare him more pain.

Damian blinked and groaned. “I'm _fine_ ,” he insisted.

“Sure you are. Why did you come alone?”

Damian tried to move away, but ultimately failed. He didn't really want to answer the question – he wasn't even sure what kind of answer he could give. He thought... He didn't remember well – like the past days had been spent in a constant fog – but he was sure he hadn't slept much. Or at all.

“I may... not have thought this through,” he finally admitted.

Because he was himself, Timothy snorted. “Oh, really? I'm _so_ surprised.”

Damian punched him on the arm – on a spot without pre-existing bruises or wounds – because he had been told that was what siblings did. His informant was Jason, but it was still solid advice.

Timothy snorted again, not annoyed at all. “Alright, and what else?”

Robin shrugged, frustrated to not remember anything more. “I don't know! I was looking for you day and night, I didn't have time for a _plan_!” He rubbed at his eyes now, and realized that his mask was still on a moment too late. The sensation was unpleasant and it was one thing too many. He wasn't a kid anymore, but – but he felt like _crying_.

Red Robin didn't say anything. He raised his head, ready to meet maybe a teasing smile, but his brother was looking at him with a shocked expression, not even concealed like usual. “You-” finally blurted out Timothy, before closing his eyes and taking another breath. Apparently calmer, he focused his gaze on Damian again. “You didn't _sleep_? For three days?”

“You do that all the time,” answered Damian flatly, crossing his arms on his chest.

“You- I'm an adult! I'm allowed to do stupid life decisions! You're a growing boy, you need your sleep!”

“I'm not- Stop coddling me!”

“I'm not coddling you, I'm being _reasonable_.”

“ _You're the least reasonable person that I know._ ”

The door of their cell opened in a loud screech. Timothy immediately jumped to be in front of Damian, and Damian gritted his teeth. Didn’t Timothy realize he was here to protect him? Not the other way around.

Two men entered. They were both tall and buff – probably henchmen the boss used to carry things around.

Damian had the impression him and his brothers were the _things_ in question, right now.

“What do you want?” snarled Timothy, probably while channeling his internal Jason Todd-Wayne.

The thugs didn't bother to answer him; instead, they grabbed both of them and dragged them out of the cell.

By unspoken agreement, they didn't fight much. Whatever would happen would probably require for them to still have most of their strength.

The hallways they passed through were all the same, without colours, sounds echoing from one place to another. It was a sign they were probably underground. It would make it more difficult for their family to find them, then.

Damian glanced at his brother, who was more being dragged than walking on his own, his bad leg refusing to move undeneath him. A new determination warmed Damian – they had to be strong. The Bats would come for them.

The thugs showed them into a new room, way bigger than their cell. Damian immediately came to support Timothy, who gave him a faint but grateful smile. Then, he looked around him.

It was easy to realize that this new room had, for a principal use, _torture_.

There was still blood stains on the walls and on the floor; various tools that every Bat learned to know a little too close on their night job; an empty bathtub in one corner, but with puddles of water around; one cage, curved at the top like one you would put a bird in, but big enough to fit a human child inside. People were already inside the room, obviously waiting for them.

Based on Timothy's expression, it was clear his brother knew this room, maybe even _too_ well. He must have spent a lot of time in it these last days.

Damian really didn't like that thought.

… His hair was still wet at the tip, wasn't it?

“What do you want?” asked Red Robin, serious, as straight as he could with Damian supporting him.

No one answered; instead a group of thugs came back toward them and grabbed them, forcing them to let go of each other. Damian fought with everything he had, but in the end they were outnumbered. He still bit and scratched at everyone in his vicinity, and he took a vicious pleasure at every cry of pain he caused.

Damian was pushed inside the cage, his wrists tied up on the bars on each side of his head. Timothy got grabbed and dragged toward a chair, like the sort you see at the dentist. Timothy managed to dig his elbow into one of the thugs’ stomach while defending himself, but they had the upper hand on him and his brother didn’t manage to fight for long. He got strapped down onto it quickly after that.

The cage started to rise through the air, wobbling and wavering in all directions, before the raising stopped, high enough so no one could access the lock without a lift.

Damian couldn't move without making the cage move as well, but he could still see his brother underneath him. Timothy was looking at him and the cage, frowning, his lips curled in a very protective way.

Damian really hoped their family would be here soon. There was nothing he could do from up here. Covertly, he looked around, trying to find some way to get out of this situation.

The door of the torture room opened again – this time in a man in a suit, clearly the boss of the operation, followed by a large man with a white t-shirt splattered with blood. It was for show, obviously – an intimidation technique. It only proved that they knew what they were doing. Their experience was worrying, but reassuring all the same – at least they wouldn't hurt them or kill them by mistake.

“Well well well,” said the man in the suit with a smug smile. “Seems like we caught us a new little birdie.”

“How original of you,” snapped Damian back. He wasn't in the mood to listen to yet another villain monologue – they were always the same and boring like nothing else.

The boss only raised an eyebrow, making a gesture to his henchman. Damian decided to call him Ugly, because he had a broken nose and an angular, sharp face resembling a triangle. Ugly progressed toward them at a slow, calculated pace, like a cat ready to jump on his prey; then, he grabbed a knife and jabbed it in Timothy's arm.

His brother only let out a short, surprised cry of pain before closing his mouth shut and gritting his teeth. Damian could only hear the blood rushing to his ears, his heart beating in his chest.

Did... did they hurt Timothy because of him? Because of what he said? Because he replied?

Somehow, his brother seemed to understand what was going through his mind, because he glanced at him. He held his look, tilting his head in a way that means he was _okay_. But it wasn't _right_ , because he had a knife in his arm.

Damian mouthed _I'm sorry_ , and Timothy shook his head discreetly. _Not your fault_ , he mouthed back.

Damian wasn't sure if he could believe him. “What do you want?” he snarled at Boss, who seemed way too happy with himself.

“Well, you see, I need some information... And I know that you Bats have them. You just need to give it to me, and no harm will be done to any of you. No _further_ harm, I should say.”

Damian knew from experience that it was a lie. The man intended full well to hurt them, answers to his questions or not. Besides, as a vigilante, he accepted the risk of being hurt or tortured. He was alright with it.

He glanced quickly at his brother. He was... less alright with someone suffering because of it, though. He wasn't sure...

He had to. He had to hold on, until their family came and saved them.

He could do that. Damian could do that – he was ready.

“I will not say anything to you.”

Boss sighed, like Damian was being difficult on purpose and he really had no other choice. Like he wouldn't enjoy it and was forced by Damian – like he was his fault and only his. “I was hoping you would be different than this one,” he said, gesturing at Red Robin. “But I see that I have no choice. It's alright; I'm sure we can make you break.”

“Never,” snarled Robin with all the pride he had left, and the man smirked.

“We will see.”

And the torture began.

* * *

It'd been hours. They stopped asking questions by now, and Damian wasn't sure anymore what they wanted.

He was so, _so_ tired, too. He could see it was the same for Timothy – everytime they wanted him to stay awake, they twisted the knife still pinned into his arm.

“I heard something interesting earlier. Something about _sleep_...” started the boss, still with his atrocious smug smile on his face. He was drinking coffee, peacefully seated near them; not too close so that no blood got on him, but close enough so they could hear him without problem.

Not like hearing was a problem. This room had an _echo_.

“So, I'll tell you, boys. Sleep is now a reward for good behaviour. Sadly, neither of you have behaved... yet.”

The words had barely left his mouth that a bucket of water was dropped on Damian, shooting him awake – not like he was falling asleep, anyway.

“That's your grand plan? Sleep-depriving us? Wow, I'm so scared,” sassed Red Robin like he hadn't been hurt every time one of them had tried to talk back.

One of the thugs slapped him for that. It didn't seem to get the determination out of his brother's face, though.

Damian hoped it would resist – that they both would resist. He knew how sleep-deprivation could affect someone – saw it enough on the hard workers of his family when they decided that sleeping was taking too much time. Sleep _wasn't_ an 'option', Richard.

After that – after that, the waiting game began.

They kept throwing water every time their eyelids dropped. Damian was soaking wet, freezing and shivering. At this rate, hypothermia would have him first – and judging by the shivering of his brother, it was the same for him.

It wasn't good. It wasn't good at all. If their family wasn't here soon...

No. No, Damian had to have faith, to trust them to get to them in time. There were so many of them – one of them would surely be there soon. Richard – Dick would never abandon them. He wasn't like that, and he loved both him and Timothy too much for that – he proved it time and time again. Cassandra was protective as well, and was probably scaring all of Gotham on her way to them. Jason, underneath his rough behaviour, was a veritable mother-hen – no way he wasn't looking out for them. Stephanie would never let them rot like that and was probably on her way as well. Duke... well, Duke was probably looking out for them, too, searching all of Gotham while on his day shift and transmitting all his clues to the others.

And Batman... Father was likely to be worried sick by both their disappearance. He was probably looking everywhere for them.

They would come. They would – because Damian had no idea how they could come out of this one on their own anymore.

* * *

Damian was feeling sick, the nauseous kind of way. He couldn't stay awake anymore, no matter what kind of noise the thugs made or the water hitting his face again and again. He couldn't feel his body anymore, and he hadn't really slept well in so long – he just wanted to let go.

Beneath him, Timothy was still shivering, his arm jolting the knife still stabbed inside him, grimacing again and again at the rush of pain. He was pale, way too pale – Damian was reminded with worry of his older brother's lack of spleen.

He was probably already sick as well, and it would only worsen from here.

Damian himself wasn't well, but more on the nauseating kind of variety. He couldn't stay awake anymore, no matter what kind of noise the thugs made or the water hitting his face again and again. He couldn't feel his body anymore, and he hadn't really slept well in so long – he just wanted to let go.

The boss hadn't come back to taunt them after the last time he left. Too bad, Damian would have loved getting sick on his face. That would have ripped his awful smile off of his lips, at least.

His head dropped in his chest, and he didn't have the strength to raise it back. No water came – there were sudden shouts, and the distant sound of a fight, and then the silence.

(Damian hadn't noticed that all the thugs left the room. He couldn’t find it within himself to be concerned about his own lack of awareness.)

The door opened. A harsh breath echoed, and then light steps coming toward them.

“Robin, Red Robin,” called a voice, soft, gentle. _Stephanie_. Batgirl.

A “Shit,” followed – _Dick_ , Nightwing.

They were safe, now. He felt himself relax as the cage he was in started its descent, as he heard the straps that kept his brother down being detached, as the door opened and someone came near him.

Damian let go of his consciousness as he felt the light touch of his sister's hand on his face.

* * *

There was a beeping sound echoing all around him – annoying and impossible to make go away. Damian groaned as his senses slowly came back to him.

Something heavy was on him. Heavy, and warm – he wanted to snuggle in it and fall back asleep. But the sound wouldn't stop, and Damian realized slowly that something was in his arm. It stung, just a little, and he couldn't really find in himself the energy or desire to move.

He opened his eyes, though.

He was in a medbay. The medbay, the one in the cave. Disjointed memories came back to him in a rush – he could remember the cage and the cries and his sister, speaking slowly to him, and Red Robin-

“Timothy!” he shouted, straightening to sit back on the cot, eyes wide and looking frantically around him.

His brother was there, laying on his back on another cot, face a little flushed and numerous bandages apparent on his chest and arms. Otherwise, he seemed fine.

“Shhhh,” came a voice from his other side. “We finally managed to get him to sleep, don't wake him up now.”

Damian turned his head; here, homework spread out on a table beside her, was Stephanie. “What... What happened?” he asked, more aware now. His wrists were bandaged, as well as his head, but it was the only extent of his injuries. Timothy, on the other hand, had received way worse.

He could remember Red Robin's capture, then his own, and their captivity and the torture. Somewhere in the back of his memories he could recall Stephanie's hand on his cheek, Nightwing untying Timothy – nothing more.

“We rescued you,” she said, calmly, finishing to write something down on her paper before pushing her homework away. “How do you feel?”

“... Mostly fine, I think. Where's everyone?”

Stephanie scrunched up her nose in annoyance. “On patrol. Except Duke, of course, he's sleeping right now. And Dick, he was running the comms but I think he fell asleep two hours ago and I didn't have the heart to wake him up. It's like, one am. I think. You slept for nearly two days, baby bat.”

Damian didn't register her last sentence right away. Instead, anxiety curled up in his stomach as a thought crossed his mind; he immediately started to assess his sister from head to toe. If she wasn't on patrol, it could only mean one thing, and Damian didn't want to be the cause of her being injured. “Are you hurt?” he asked finally when he realized she had no apparent injury.

Stephanie smiled softly. “I'm fine. Bruce benched me because I have a paper due tomorrow and he wants me to work on it.”

“Oh,” he said, blinking slowly. He finally laid back on the pillow, processing the last few minutes. “Wait. Did you say that I slept for two days?”

“I said nearly two days, actually. But, yeah, you slept that much. It worried us, actually. But apparently, you had a lot of sleep to catch up on.” She smiled fondly, and ran her hand through his hair. Damian relaxed at the affection, sinking into the soft feeling growing in his heart.

“And Timothy?” he asked after a short time. No matter what, he was still worried for his brother – he did sacrifice himself to try to save him, after all. Not his best plan, but it worked in the end anyway.

“Well, this idiot managed to catch an infection. But he's already better, don't worry. It was really minor. On the bright side, he's gonna be benched off patrol for at least a month because of his injuries, and you will probably be grounded for as long, so you two are about to spend soooo much time together!”

She was mocking him, right?

… She was definitely mocking him.

Damian groaned, ready to protest no matter how childish he sounded. “Grounded? Why would I be grounded? I didn't do anything wrong!”

Stephanie snorted. “You're kidding, right? You gave all of us the scare of our life by dropping off the radar like that. That was the dumbest plan ever, by the way. You managed to do worse than Tim, congratulations.”

“No one can do worse than Timothy,” immediately replied Damian with the force of habit, forgetting to answer to her veiled insult. Teasing.

“I can hear you, you know,” muttered a voice beside them, and Damian turned his head. Timothy was looking right at them, an unhappy moue on his face – actually, no, it was a pout. He was pouting.

“I don't know why we would be ashamed,” started Damian while hiding his relieved smile, not ready to admit out loud that he was glad to see his brother awake.

“After all, we only said the truth,” finished Stephanie with an amused grin. She discreetly high-fived Damian.

“I'm gonna kick your ass,” said Timothy with a sneeze.

“Please, Timothy, you would lose a fight against an infant right now.”

“An infant? Try a fly,” added Stephanie with a smirk.

Damian couldn't help the smile on his face either. “He lost a fight against a fly even in peak condition.”

“I hate both of you,” groaned Timothy, but he smiled at them fondly all the same.

Damian couldn't stop himself from sending it back at him.

Stephanie hummed without a care for what Timothy had said, before standing up and making the turn of Damian's cot. She stopped right before him, grabbing delicately his arm. His arm where an IV bag was linked to – the sting he felt earlier while waking up.

“I think you're good now,” said his sister with a smile, before taking the needle out carefully. She then applied a Batgirl band-aid on the cut before dropping a kiss on it. “Here! Magic kiss, you will be healed in no time!”

Damian rolled his eyes at the silliness. He didn't bother trying to hide the grin at his lips, this time.

Stephanie went back to her seat and sighed loudly at her homework, before taking her pen and going back to work. When Damian turned his head again, he noticed that Timothy was still watching him closely. Their gazes met, and Timothy reached his hand out toward him. In his eyes were a mix of fear and relief that echoed inside Damian.

He grabbed his brother's hand. It was warm against his palm, and Damian felt suddenly all the adrenaline he didn't know was still in his body leaving him. He was tired, exhausted, his eyelids dropping – for a short instant of panic, he could feel water splashing against his head, forcing him to stay awake.

But it wasn't real. He was safe. He was home. His siblings were here.

Timothy squeezed his hand, and Damian impulsively got out of his bed. His brother's eyes widened a little, his hand still in his, and like he could read in his mind and guess his next move, shifted over in his own bed.

Damian only had to take two steps before he was lying down against his brother, his head against Timothy's shoulder, his brother's arm against his waist. And finally – Damian felt truly, entirely relaxed, like nothing could go wrong anymore.

He had spent so long trying to look out for his brother, to get him back, and now – now, they were both safe.

Damian placed his hand against Timothy's chest, just over his heart – he could hear it beating, _thump-thump_ , _thump-thump_. His brother dropped a kiss into his hair, and Damian smiled.

Soon, he was sinking back to sleep, with no care for the _click_ of the picture Stephanie obviously took or the little laugh escaping Timothy.

Everything was back right in place, and Damian couldn't ask for more.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it!!
> 
> I just want Tim and Damian to have a good and sweet relationship... To have them caring about each other... Is that too much to ask DC-
> 
> Also!! If i need to put more tag, plz let me know!!
> 
> Take care, a lot of love for you all!! :heart:


End file.
